wondrous weekend #4: topsail

we spent the entire week of the 4th down at our beloved topsail.  i went down for a few days by myself with the kids (and was thrilled to live through two solid days of downpours) before chris drove down on tuesday. and then on wednesday, the basses joined us.  bill, lainey, web, and marshall were a welcome addition ... if left to our own devices, we manns would have just down the same ol', same ol', boogey-boarding in the ocean and beachcombing.  leave it to the basses to drum up all sorts of new activities -- only a few of which are highlighted below.

 why yes, there was a holiday to celebrate

 awaiting the famous july 3rd fireworks (and contrary to the image, i do actually have two legs)

 we had fireworks of our very own as well

we did do some of the normal things, like riding the waves ...

... and kayaking (notice the chivalrous web taking susanna out for a spin)

 ... and putt putt

... and even paddleboarding (which isn't exactly a typical pastime of ours, but since we rented one last year, we sort of feel like experts at this point)

but then we added some new activities into our mix, like wading in the water at the boat slip and collecting teeny tiny fishies in buckets and then pouring them into yogurt containers to take care of for a few days.  susanna is here feeding bread to her fish, named "cheerly" (your guess is as good as mine)

the boys also tried catching stuff by casting a net, but that didn't work so well.  so they adopted an alternate method.  the steps are as follows:  

1.  hook chicken gizzards onto a string that's tied to a wooden handle, and drop it into the water

2. watch in awe as a crab almost immediately latches onto that delectable chicken meat, and then scoop up that unlucky crab in a net

3.  drop it into a bucket to await its fate with other unlucky fellows (we stopped at six or seven, i think)

4.  steam 'em up and then spend an hour picking maybe a cup's worth of crabmeat.  (we wound up making delicious crab and brie stuffed mushrooms as that evening's appetizer.  what they say is true -- it tastes even more amazing if you've caught it yourself)

while the crabs and fishies were unlucky, another member of the animal kingdom was enjoying a little luxury.  super, whose back legs are so bad now that there was no way she could navigate the hardwood stairs, enjoyed riding on our outdoor elevator like the queen that she is.  vacation is not just for people, you know